1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to control systems for watercraft and, more particularly, to a control system in which multiple actuators, such as steering actuators or trim plate actuators, are controlled in response to manual commands which emanate from a number of sensors or switches that is less than the number of actuators being controlled.
2. Description of the Related Art
Those skilled in the art of marine propulsion systems and, more particularly, steering systems and trim systems associated with marine vessels, are familiar with many different devices, systems, and techniques associated with the control of a marine vessel. This knowledge includes various types of communication systems on a marine vessel and various techniques for controlling a plurality of devices, such as steering actuators, with a number of sensors or switches that is less than the number of actuators being controlled.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,771, which issued to Buckley et al. on Aug. 14, 2001, discloses a control system for a marine vessel. It incorporates a marine propulsion system that can be attached to a marine vessel and connected in signal communication with a serial communication bus and a controller. A plurality of input devices and output devices are also connected in signal communication with the communication bus and a bus access manager, such as a CAN Kingdom network, is connected in signal communication with the controller to regulate the incorporation of additional devices to the plurality of devices in signal communication with the bus whereby the controller is connected in signal communication with each of the plurality of devices on the communication bus. The input and output devices can each transmit messages to the serial communication bus for receipt by other devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,340, which issued to Kolb et al. on Nov. 26, 2002, describes an electrically controlled shift and throttle system. It is intended for a watercraft having multiple control stations. The system has a number of control units having an elongated lever arm which can be moved in forward and reverse directions for shifting the transmission among forward, neutral, and reverse operating modes, as well as controlling the throttle of the engine for varying the operating speed thereof. The control units are electrically connected to a controller which also is electrically connected to a shift gear motor and throttle motor. Switches associated with each of the control units enable one of the control units to be selected as a master control unit and the non-selected control units then operate as slave units.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,728, which issued to Staerzl on Jun. 24, 2003, discloses a trim tab position monitor. A circuit is provided which receives a signal that is representative of a voltage potential across a stator winding of a motor which is attached to the trim tab. This signal is passed through a high pass filter to remove the DC component of the signal, amplified, and passed through a low pass filter to remove certain high frequency components of the signal. A zero crossing detector is used to discern individual pulses which are then received by a counter that provides a single output pulse for a predetermined number of input pulses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,765, which issued to Graham et al. on Jul. 1, 2003, describes an electronic control system for marine vessels. It has one or more engines and a transmission associated with each engine and it includes one or more control stations. Each station has a control arm. The system includes one or more electronic control units, each of which is electro-mechanically coupled to an engine and a transmission.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,445, which issued to Kaufmann et al. on May 2, 2006, describes a watercraft steer-by-wire system. It comprises a direction control system including a rudder position sensor, a helm control system including at least one of a helm position sensor to produce and transmit a helm position signal and an optional torque sensor to produce and transmit a helm torque sensor signal. The system optionally includes a watercraft speed sensor and a master control unit in operable communication with the watercraft speed sensor, the helm control system, and the direction control system.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,908, which issued to Okuyama on Oct. 17, 2006, describes a control system for watercraft propulsion units. Shift and thrust of outboard motors can be controlled through adjacent two operating levers in the watercraft having three or more outboard motors mounted in parallel on a transom plate. The control system can be provided with a control circuit for detecting lever positions of the operating levers and controlling the left unit according to the position lever of the left operating lever and the right unit according to the lever position of the right operating lever. The control circuit can be provided with a calculation circuit for calculating an imaginary lever position of the middle unit from the lever positions detected.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,240, which issued to Gillman et al. on Dec. 19, 2006, describes a method and apparatus for maneuvering a watercraft. A watercraft steer-by-wire control system comprises an input device, at least one transducer in operable communication with the input device, a rudder control system in operable communication with the input device and configured to control a rudder of a watercraft, and a bow thruster control system in operable communication with the one transducer and configured to control a bow thruster of the watercraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,581, which issued to Davis et al. on Mar. 13, 2007, discloses a marine drive with an integrated trim tab. The marine drive and a marine vessel and drive combination have a trim tab with a forward end pivotally mounted to a marine propulsion device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,325,505, which issued to Otobe et al. on Feb. 5, 2008, describes an outboard motor steering control system. In an outboard motor steering control system having a plurality of outboard motors, each adapted to be mounted on a stern of a boat by a shaft to be movable by an actuator relative to the boat and each having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, a desired steering angle of each outboard motor is determined individually based on detected engine speed and rotation angle of a steering wheel. The operation of the actuator is controlled based on the determined desired steering angle, thereby improving both straight course-holding performance and turning performance by regulating the relative angles between the outboard motors in response to the cruising conditions of the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,371,140, which issued to Davis on May 13, 2008, discloses a protective marine vessel and drive. The vessel and drive combination includes port and starboard tunnels formed in a marine vessel hull raising port and starboard steerable marine propulsion devices to protective positions relative to the keel.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,387,556, which issued to Davis on Jun. 17, 2008, discloses an exhaust system for a marine propulsion device having a driveshaft extending vertically through a bottom portion of a boat hull. The exhaust system directs a flow of exhaust gas from an engine located within the marine vessel and preferably within a bilge portion of the marine vessel through a housing which is rotatable and supported below the marine vessel. The exhaust passageway extends through an interface between stationary and rotatable portions of the marine propulsion device, through a cavity formed in the housing, and outwardly through hubs of the pusher propellers to conduct the exhaust gas away from the propellers without causing a deleterious condition referred to as ventilation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,369, which issued to Tracht et al. on Jul. 29, 2008, describes a watercraft steer-by-ireless system. It includes a directional control system responsive to a directional command signal for steering a watercraft, the directional control system including a rudder position sensor to measure and transmit a rudder position signal, and a helm control system responsive to a helm command signal for receiving a directional input to a helm control unit from an operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,429,202, which issued to Yazaki et al. on Sep. 30, 2008, describes an outboard motor control system. In a system having two outboard motors each mounted on a stern of a boat, there is provided a controller that controls operation of steering actuators to regulate steering angles of the outboard motor such that lines extending from the axes of rotation of the propellers of the outboard motors intersect at a desired point. With this, it becomes possible to freely adjust the stream confluence point of the outboard motors, thereby improving both driving stability and providing enhanced auto-spanker performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,467,981, which issued to Okuyama et al. on Dec. 23, 2008, describes a remote control device and watercraft. In a watercraft equipped with at least three outboard motors the remote control device can be used. It can have a pair of shift levers and can be provided with a detection device for protecting positions of the shift levers. A remote control side ECU can control the outboard motors by signals from the detection device. The remote control side ECU can include a plurality of ECUs corresponding to the outboard motors.
The patents described above are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.
It would be significantly beneficial if a system could be provided in which sensors and/or switches associated with manually operated devices could provide signals to a plurality of controllers so that those controllers could control the operation of a plurality of actuators in a way which does not require each of the controllers to be directly connected to one or more of the sensors and/or switches. It would also be desirable to provide a system in which one of the controllers could receive the signals from the sensors and/or switches and then communicate those signals to other controllers. It would also be beneficial if a system could be developed that provides redundancy in the event that one or more of the sensors and/or switches become inoperable for any reason.